Is Discord a trickster mentor?

[CastletonSnob 3,025]

Discord is often thought to be a trickster mentor by the fandom who tries to teach the ponies lessons in an indirect way. What do you think about this characterization of him? Personally, I think there's little evidence to support this in canon. I think it's more like he acts like an asshole or causes a problem, and ponies learn a lesson by complete accident.

 

Three's a Crowd: Discord EXPLICITLY states that the reason he faked being sick was to see if Twilight cared about him, not to teach her a lesson.

What About Discord?: Discord CLAIMS he was trying to teach Twilight a lesson about jealousy, but the way he rubs in the fact that he intentionally made her miss out on a weekend with her friends makes me think otherwise.

Celestial Advice: Discord outright says that he just wanted Starlight as his roommate. There's no reason to think he was actually trying to help Twilight by pointing out that she needs to figure out what to do with Starlight. It's more likely he was trying to make Twilight freak out, and Twilight learned a lesson by complete accident.

[They call me Loyalty 1,941]

There are a few select people in my life who have that kind of trickster personality, which is something very sophisticated in nature. They would lull someone into a sense of comfort and then suddenly pull the rug under their feet. And they are both mentors and learners. They are trying to heal themselves as well. The same way discord needs to heal his own cynicism. To learn to trust in others again.

Because reality and truth are never so clearly defined as either one thing or the other. Truth is multi-faceted. The master is also the student, and the student is also the master. So, you can have a very conflictive personality that is actually working for a greater purpose. Sometimes, even without the knowledge of the individual.

[Props Valroa 26,051]

It is very much a possibility that it could be that way.

[Will Guide 21,325]

TV Tropes has marked him as a trickster mentor on his Character Page.

Plain and simple there's a nice little bullet list:

Quote

Seems to fancy himself something like this by the end of the season 4 premiere: He knows all along what is causing the Everfree Forest to run wild, but keeps silent because he doesn't want to "rob Twilight of an important lesson about being a princess." He is also the one who suggests they speak to Zecora for guidance, and convinces Twilight to return to her friends, albeit by insinuating her new title has gone to her head; see Jerkass Has a Point above. He also guides Twilight to focus on opening the Tree of Harmony chest while at the same time, bookmarks certain sections of the Mane Six's Friendship Journal pertaining to five of the keys.

He continues doing this in several other episodes as well. Notably, he seems to be "trickster" first and foremost and "mentor" more as an afterthought — he likes using the excuse of teaching some character (usually Twilight) a "friendship lesson" even when it is quite clear to everybody that he was really mostly getting his kicks out of ruining someone's day. He usually gets called out on this, and sometimes even gets his schemes turned around on him.

In "The Beginning of the End - Part 2", Discord fakes a serious injury in the final fight against Sombra to provoke Twilight into overcoming her confidence issues and defeating him. It's implied by Rainbow Dash's knowing "That's Discord for you!" line that this is also why he's hardly ever lifted a finger to help when it would've been most convenient.

Deconstructed in "The Ending of the End - Part 1". It turns out that Discord has been masquerading as Grogar the entire time, bringing Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis together as one last "test" for Twilight to make sure that she's really ready to take over Equestria when three major threats attack at once. However, the three outwit him, steal his Chaos powers with the real Grogar's Bewitching Bell, then use the magic stored inside it to supercharge themselves and very nearly take over Equestria, along with nearly resulting in the return of the Windigos and utterly shattering Twilight's confidence when he had meant to bolster it. When everyone finds out about this, they are not happy.

 

[Misty Shadow 7,088]

I think he simply likes to teach ponies things while also tricking them for his personal gain. Anyone with eyes sees that Discord is selfish, but even selfish people are capable of getting enjoyment out of helping someone else.

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

The episodes people mentioned and Best Gift Ever showed that side of him. Deep down, he probably cares more than he lets on. 

[Megas 27,070]

Giving him way too much credit. At least 95% of his actions is either him just being an asshole or him throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get what he wanted, any time he followed his behavior with “oh I just wanted to see if....” or “I was just testing...” or what have you, just comes off as poor attempts to justify his shitty behavior. Discord faking his injuries in the S9 premiere was one of the few times they actually managed pull it off because he delivers one of the best moments of revelation for the mane 6, and probably for the first time he didn’t come off like he was faking his injuries to be mean, he actually wasn’t testing them, he knew they could beat Sombra. If they had just left it there, that would have actually been a point in his favor, but then, you know, the rest of the season and the worst twist on this in the entire series happened 

Edited March 23, 2022 by Megas

[SharpWit 2,472]

Trickster mentors are assholes, and Discord is Q from Star Trek with a TV-Y rating.

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

10 hours ago, Megas said:

Giving him way too much credit. At least 95% of his actions is either him just being an asshole or him throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get what he wanted, any time he followed his behavior with “oh I just wanted to see if....” or “I was just testing...” or what have you, just comes off as poor attempts to justify his shitty behavior. Discord faking his injuries in the S9 premiere was one of the few times they actually managed pull it off because he delivers one of the best moments of revelation for the mane 6, and probably for the first time he didn’t come off like he was faking his injuries to be mean, he actually wasn’t testing them, he knew they could beat Sombra. If they had just left it there, that would have actually been a point in his favor, but then, you know, the rest of the season and the worst twist on this in the entire series happened 

I'd argue that "Best Gift Ever" also has him be actually helpful. Yeah, the Winterchilla turns into a monster and wrecks part of the castle, but he genuinely helps Fluttershy get a gift she actually likes and get to be the Hero of Hearth's Warming, helps Rainbow get Fluttershy a gift that makes her happy rather than just a candle, and even ends up helping the Winterchilla itself since it was lonely. It was manipulative but everyone involved genuinely comes out better for his plan. Between that and the Season 9 premiere, two episodes that were literally back to back, it really made it seem like Discord had figured out how to be a genuinely good trickster mentor who really could help his friends in his own way. Then like you said, they pull off the twist that threw that and any other development Discord could have been argued to have right out the window for the sake of "Subversion".

[CastletonSnob 3,025]

Someone on another site pointed out that in A Matter of Principals, Spike says, that Discord tends to mess with ponies he cares about as a way of "testing" them.

Except Discord wasn't trying to test Starlight, and there's no reason to think he was. He was just throwing a tantrum over not being invited to the School of Friendship, which he shouldn't even care about in the first place.

[Rumpelstiltskin 45]

I find it more that he's not so much a mentor, just someone who causes problems that people have to clean up. 

I'd argue he's actually closer to the devil, or at least, some sort of similar folk character. He's a powerful, supernatural being who delights in deceiving and tricking others, desires to be in control and holds those who are in utter contempt, wants to upend all of creation to pave the way for his own twisted vision, and has led several people into damnation. 

Edited March 30, 2022 by Rumpelstiltskin